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May 4, 2015

10th Anniversary as a Quilter!

It's celebration month! 10 years ago this month I decided to learn how to quilt. I walked into the local quilt store, bought a book about log cabins by Eleanor Burns, read it cover to cover 6 times, and made 12 log cabin quilts in a row amidst a busy life as business owner, with two little busy boys, and not a whole lot of sleep.

There aren't any pictures of the quilts I made in my first few years as a quilter as I would give them away just as fast as I finished them. When I finally get a picture of one of those quilts the quality is not that great but, hey, it helps me retrace my steps and see how much I have learned. Here is a short trip down memory lane:

This is another reason why I am so glad I started this blog three years ago because I get to take pictures of what I make and share them with you. I realize I have a very eclectic taste, which allows me to learn and try very different techniques. I have since begun to design my own patterns and a whole new way of enjoying this craft has flourished (click here and here for the published ones, and here for the Etsy Store. More patterns to be added soon to the store).

This year I am having a lot of fun designing the blocks for the City Girl Sew Along. More new projects and tutorials are lined up for the next few months.

To celebrate my love of quilting I will have giveaways this month. The first one starts today with a $25 gift certificate donated by Fat Quarter Shop to a random reader who answers this question: For how long have you been quilting?

[Giveaway Closed]

$25 Gift Certificate

You do not have to do anything fancy. Just leave a comment (leave another one to tell me you follow my blog for an extra chance to win), and if you are a no-reply blogger, make sure to leave your email address (you can write it like this so you won't get spam emails: mary(at)everywhere(dot)com). The giveaway ends this Friday, May 8, at 5pm, and the winner will be announced on Monday, May 11.

I will be spending this day going through my current projects and deciding which one I will finish. I hope you will be having a fun day, too!

216 comments:

Happy Quiltiversary! I made my first baby quilt 32 years ago. I am a first generation self-taught quilter. While raising my children did not have time to quilt on a regular basis. Now that I am an empty nester, I am padding my nest with lots of fabric, making quilts and sending them out to make the world a warmer place, one quilt at a time. Thanks for the chance to win ... :) Pat

My first quilt I made was when I was a sophomore in college...waaay back in 1981! It was a simple block quilt in shades of purple and covered my full size bed. I still have it and use it on picnics, ball games, the beach or snuggling under when in the hammock. I've just recently gotten back into quilting and want to learn more techniques and blocks.

Congrats to 10 years of quilting! My mom hooked me on the quilting train when I was a teenager about 13 or 14 I think. Ironically while I'm still driving with this train my mom now get most of the quilts I'm making but I still wait for the one she started to make for me shortly after she started quilting (about 20 years ago).

I have been quilting since 1994. I took a beginner's class just to learn about the basics of quilting and practicing a lot before I decided to make a black, white and gray cat quilt. I took a lst place ribbon at our Fairgrounds and cried when I saw the ribbon on my quilt. Anyways, congrats to you and bless your little heart for being so generous with all of us. I have enjoyed your blog and have been looking forward each month for the City Girl Sew Along.

I made my first quilt project in 1986 - 29 years ago, but didn't get serious about it until 1991. My first project were floor pillows quilt as you go - kissing dinosaurs I think. Don't know that I can ever stop. Congrats on your 10th year!

Happy Anniversary! I've been quilting for 6 1/2 years. I decided to take a quilting class at the local community college the year out youngest daughter graduated from our homeschool. I learned to make a quilt completely by hand and the next year I learned how to make a quilt with a sewing machine. I haven't looked back and I can't wait to see what I will learn in the next 6 years.

I made my nephew a quilt in 1999 (when I was 20)- then didn't make another until a friend was having twins just last year! Now I have 2 done and a few in progress! Congrats on 10 years! Sarah: crjandsbj(at)netzero(dot)com

Happy Anniversary of quilting!!!! I think I have been quilting about 25 + years. I watched Georgia Bonesteel on tv and just had to make one so did:) Of course I started with a kit that had all the techniques in one... ugh!!! Still have it in the bottom of a trunk somewhere. Always smile when I come across it:) Oh what I have learned since then!!!!

Congratulations on your quiltaversary! I've been quilting for 45 years or so....but not consistently. Years on.....years off....but have been steadily quilting this past 10 years. Thanks for the giveaway!

Congratulations on 10 years, Denise. It's a great milestone. Here's wishing you many more decades of great quilting.

I made my first quilts when I was in my early 20s (about 40 years ago) -- a 9-patch corduroy lap quilt for my grandfather who was in a nursing home, and a large wool quilt with a blanket sandwiched between the top and bottom layers for our queen-sized bed. The next time I quilted was the autumn my mother died. Christmas was near but it was different. So my daughters and I made about 10 baby quilts and took them to our local children's hospital. That was 1997. Then, we had a service project at church in 2002 or 2003 and I made some quilts for that and then just kept going. (But I'm not a prolific quilter.)

Thanks so much for inviting us to celebrate with you and generously giving the gifts.

I've been sewing for about 8/9 years but still a fledgling quilter - haven't done what I would call a "proper" quilt yet (as in batting, quilting and binding) but I'm working on my first one :) Congratulations on your anniversary!x

Congrats to you! My hubby bought my sewing machine about three years ago because I wanted to start quilting and I am just now getting it out and starting to put it all together. So I have been quilting for just a few months.

Happy quiltaversary! I'm a self-taught quilter of 21 yrs. At the time I was pg with my first baby, and had a lot of time on my hands. And my baby needed a quilt. I so wish I had learned at my Grandma's knee. She quilted till she was well into her 80s :) Thanks for the great giveaway.

Happy 10th Year Quiltyversary!!! giggle It is such a Fun time isn't it! Yay!

I probably actually started to quilt long time ago...tho not seriously until past few years....so am learning with my two Daughter's pretty much. Definitely consider myself a Beginner..tho has been close to 3 years...lol

Wow, 10 years of quilting - a great milestone! I count my quilting start from the time I joined a bee - since I figured out what I was doing wrong and how to do it right with the help of some patient and caring women! That was about 7 years ago. It took me many years to finish my first quilt, but I have come a long way and have finished several just last year. Hopefully, this year will be even better!

Congratulations on ten years of creativity. I started quilting at age four for my dolls but the first bed cover was made fifty three years ago out of necessity for life in an unheated apartment. I didn't start taking pictures and keeping a quilt diary until about 30 years ago.(even then, sometimes I gave them away before I remembered to take a picture) Blogging? That was my son's doing... he scanned my paper diary. Isn't it great to meet other quilters this way and share all kinds of stuff ? Inspiration and friendship re at the top of the list. As to no-reply ... sometimes I am and sometimes not ... I think Mr. Google messes with my settings when I am asleep (He must live in the states so I am asleep while he is awake)

Happy anniversary! I've been quilting for... four? years now. But I am such an intermittent quilter. Someday we'll have a big enough house that I can actually set up my sewing machine and leave it set up instead of having to put it away after using it. :)

Congrats on your wonderful journey. I took my first quilting class about 28 years ago. That quilt is not finished and probably never will be. I started machine piecing in 2003 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Six weeks later I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The loss of arm strength due to the cancer and the exhaustion due to the fibromyalgia certainly limit my quilting and I enjoy every minute I am able to piece. Thanks for the month of giveaways.

My first quilt was when I was 23 years old... I had cut up my husbands old work shirts which were Burgandy, blues and whites... I just cut 5" squares, laid them out in a nice pattern and sewed them together.. hand tied.... now that I look back it was just awful... I have no clue where that quilt ended up and I didn't make another for many years.. thirty years later I am now making many quilts for my charity group, family and friends... and loving every minute.. shame my first one was such a flop but so glad I found my quilting love in later years.

Denise, wow congrats on your anniversary . Do you ever slow down:) I've been quilting for almost 7 years now. Isn't it cool to look back at those "firsts" and amaze yourself w/how you've developed your skill set.

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